Spurs setting the standard for diversity

[Jimcs50]

June 10, 2005, 11:44PM

Spurs setting the standard for diversity
By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

SAN ANTONIO — Occasionally, certain things still are lost in translation

Like when Spurs coach Gregg Popovich tried to loosen up his culturally diverse team before Game 1 of the NBA Finals, joking about having a team spelling bee.

Mastering the English language has been a running joke within the Spurs' locker room.

And why would it not be? Listing the nationalities of the Spurs roster is like the start of a bad joke: "Two Slovenians, an Argentine and a Frenchman walk into a bar."

And that's not to mention the Angolan and Cameroonian who were in Spurs camp, Tim Duncan's U.S. Virgin Island roots, the Croat and the other Argentine waiting in the wings or that Bruce Bowen is from one of the most desolate places of all — Fresno, Calif.


Pick a language
Depending on who is talking to whom, variations of at least six languages can be spoken among the Spurs.

"You end up learning languages from everybody," Argentine wing Manu Ginobili said. "Tony (Parker) was speaking with (former teammate Romain) Sato in French. Rasho (Nesterovic) to me in Italian, Rasho and Beno (Udrih) in Slovenian. Pop last year spoke some words to (Hedo) Turkoglu (now with Orlando) in Turkish, and talks Russian (to Nesterovic) ... you have a lot of different things in there."

Hence, the occasional butchered dialogue.

"Somebody was addressing the team one day and referred to, 'veteranism,' " Popovich said. "About six guys looked at each other (trying not to laugh)."

Thus, before Game 1, Popovich devised a strategery for easing the pressure of the Finals.

"Every time somebody says something that's not really a word, it turns into this spelling bee thing," Popovich said. "I told them we were going to have a spelling bee. Manu was like, 'Spelling? bees? Where are the bees?'

"So we had to explain to him what a spelling bee was. Things like that happen."


A fine mixture
They laugh and kid about it. They chop up each other's languages and cut each other down — Duncan talking about the size of Ginobili's nose, everyone kidding Robert Horry, a Will Smith look-alike, about doing the pregame show for Game 1.

How do you make a champion? You throw it all into a melting pot and let the flavors mix.

And because of the Spurs' success, the pot never has been quite so stirred all over the league. It is impossible not to notice how fluidly the parts can fit and how much things have changed.

Reputations and myths about foreign players are being broken with every game the Spurs win in their unselfish ways and internationally flavored style.

For years, more foreign-born players missed than hit. They earned reputations for arriving to the NBA out of shape, being weak defensively and unathletic.

The first time Popovich brought in a foreign-born player was Serbia's Zarko Paspalj in 1989 when Popovich was a Spurs assistant. But he couldn't argue with two of then-coach Larry Brown's reasons for wanting to release Paspalj. He couldn't play and was a chain-smoker.

But with a third NBA championship in seven years perhaps on the way in large part because of a lightning-quick point guard in Parker and a daring, defensively brilliant wing in Ginobili, some are begrudgingly admitting foreign players can be integral parts. Even superstars.

But note that we say some.

One day after Ginobili blistered the Pistons for 15 fourth-quarter points, single-handedly stealing the show as if Manu Ginobili is Spanish for Michael Jordan, Rasheed Wallace was asked about the Spurs wing.

Wallace hesitantly blurted: "He's all right. Ain't nothing too special about the kid."

For years, that kind of reluctant, backhanded praise is what foreign players faced. Frankly, the NBA's best players were conceited and often resentful, even Jordan and Scottie Pippen never fully accepted Toni Kukoc in Chicago.

But until recently, few foreign players did much to dispel myths.

There were the exceptions with Arvydas Sabonis, Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic earning legitimate accolades, but even they were more prototypical Europeans — shooters and mostly finesse players hardly known for defense. The best guard and all-around player might have been Drazen Petrovic, a Serb who died in a car accident in his prime in 1993.

Otherwise, an assortment of thick-legged, slow-footed Europeans with skill but little defensive ability came and went, giving NBA presidents and GMs little reason to look beyond American borders.

There was Dino Radja, highly skilled, but ultimately overwhelmed and oft-injured by the physical NBA. There was Kukoc, overpaid and more about news clippings than production.

Then came Germany's Dirk Nowitzki, Lithuania's Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Spain's Pau Gasol and, of course, China's Yao Ming. These guys could play. But win come playoff time?

The Spurs were the first to prove it. They turned their entire backcourt over to foreign-born players, including the critical point guard spot. They found the best defensive player to arrive from a foreign land in Ginobili.

They have made it impossible to ignore that championships can be won with talent from abroad playing vital roles.

Unless you're Rasheed Wallace. Translation: You're in denial.

[Jimcs50]

June 11, 2005, 1:13AM

Spurs' defense bad to the Bowen
Hamilton is the latest to feel bite of 'junkyard dog'
By FRAN BLINEBURY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

SAN ANTONIO - It was nothing Bruce Bowen did. Of course not.

That's what Detroit's Richard Hamilton kept insisting after he took 21 shots in Game 1 of the NBA Finals and missed 14.

"I got every shot I wanted to take," he said. "I think I missed about four or five layups, I missed three or four wide-open jump shots. Those are shots that I usually make. It's probably getting adjusted to the rims. It was just one of those nights."

One of those nights that seem to follow the Spurs' Bowen like a huge coincidence with a yellow ribbon and a large bell around its neck. It never has anything to do with him, they say.

Yes, it must be the rims. Or the lights being too dim. Or the air conditioning blowing too hard.

It must be anything but Bowen, the defensive specialist who is as critical to the overall success of the Spurs as Tim Duncan's bank shot and Manu Ginobili's South American flights of fantasy through the lane.

"I guess I would be the anchor of our defense," Bowen said.

He was nothing less than a concrete block chained to the ankles of the Pistons all night in their 84-69 loss as their offense stopped after the first quarter.

Hamilton has been Detroit's leading scorer through the playoffs this spring and is their old-school answer to Duncan with the Spurs.

Call him "Little Fundamental" for the way he uses classic motion, a knack for coming off screens and an uncommon touch on the lost art of the midrange jumper. He is the calming influence on the Pistons' offense, the player who usually finds a bucket when they need it most.


Persistence personified
But Bowen changed that in the opener. He is far less the pit bull who sinks its teeth into an opponent's ankle and more the hounding, harassing junkyard dog who wears the other guy out with his persistence.

"I've had more fun," said first-year Spurs teammate Brent Barry, who spent years trying to overcome Bowen's defense. "I got hit with a hot poker one time. That was more fun. I think I got a stick in the eye when I was a kid and I enjoyed that compared to when Bruce was guarding me.

"He is tenacious. He takes a tremendous amount of pride in his individual defense to go out and try to frustrate guys to get them off their game. Bruce keeps coming at you."

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made an unusual comparison.

"I always put him in the Dennis Rodman category," he said. "He's smart enough to realize he has a unique ability. He knows he's limited in other ways. He doesn't let that diminish anything about him and he concentrates on that strength. ... He wants to be the best at what he does, and I think Dennis was exactly the same way. That's Bruce Bowen."

Bowen's been doing it throughout his career, but it's never been more obvious than this postseason when he has — in succession — held Denver's Carmelo Anthony, Seattle's Ray Allen and Phoenix's Shawn Marion under their regular-season scoring averages. Now he hooks up with Hamilton, who scored six points in the first seven minutes as the Pistons jumped to a 17-4 lead, but then got just eight more.


Dominates through three
Pistons coach Larry Brown said Bowen was the player who "dominated" the first three quarters of the game, despite shooting 0-for-6 and not scoring a point in 35 minutes.

"We have a special relationship (as a team) and part of that maybe was born out of the relationship," Bowen said. "And the fact that I didn't quit at the other end. A lot of times guys are having bad nights offensively and you can tell on defense.

"It's not a matter of early on in my basketball days saying, 'Hey, I got to play defense.' It's just something that happened. It was the only way for me to stick and be on the court. It's a role that I've drawn a lot of attention for because of it. But at the same time, it wasn't always just about defense."

Now, of course, it is. No matter what Hamilton and the other players he has shut down say.

[email protected]


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NBA Finals Summary
Cool reaction
Apparently, the Spurs' Manu Ginobili is going to have to do more than connect on nine of 10 shots in the second half en route to 26 points and nine rebounds to impress Detroit's Rasheed Wallace.

"Well, he's all right," Wallace said Friday. "In my opinion, he's a good ballplayer. Ain't nothing too special about the kid. You know, he's a good penetrator. But he's cool."


Robinson chips in
The last thing anybody expected when the Spurs signed veteran Glenn Robinson late in the season was that he'd be making big defensive contributions. But he came off the bench to help in the first two rounds against Denver and Seattle, and blocked three shots to help turn things around against the Pistons in Game 1.

"Since he came back from his mom's funeral (two weeks ago), he's been working hard every day to get into some semblance of shape and try to figure out what we were doing," said Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "He wasn't always in the right spot, but he's a basketball player."


Need a win
The Pistons will deny they're in a desperate situation in the series. But the numbers say otherwise.

On the previous 26 occasions when a team has fallen behind 2-0 in the NBA Finals, only twice have teams come back to win the series. That would be the 1969 Celtics and 1977 Trail Blazers.


Passing McHale
The Spurs' Tim Duncan had a double double (13 points, 13 rebounds) at halftime of Game 1. He added two blocked shots, giving him 45 career blocks in the Finals and moving him ahead of Kevin McHale for fifth place on the all-time list.


Good company
Robert Horry quietly has moved up the list of all-time playoff games played.

Game 1 was the 192nd postseason game of Horry's career. He trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (237), Scottie Pippen (208), Danny Ainge (193) and Karl Malone (193).

The pair of 3-point shots Horry tossed in Thursday night moved him into second place (40) in Finals history. The only player to make more in the Finals was Michael Jordan (42).

-- FRAN BLINEBURY

[ducks]

Bowen's been doing it throughout his career, but it's never been more obvious than this postseason when he has — in succession — held Denver's Carmelo Anthony, Seattle's Ray Allen and Phoenix's Shawn Marion under their regular-season scoring averages. Now he hooks up with Hamilton, who scored six points in the first seven minutes as the Pistons jumped to a 17-4 lead, but then got just eight more.

and they new d rule is in effect and soem say he is past his prime

[Jimcs50]

The pair of 3-point shots Horry tossed in Thursday night moved him into second place (40) in Finals history. The only player to make more in the Finals was Michael Jordan (42).

Horry ties MJ in rings earned, and breaks one of his records simultaneously....life is good for Big Shot Bob.

[Jimcs50]

Bowen's been doing it throughout his career, but it's never been more obvious than this postseason when he has — in succession — held Denver's Carmelo Anthony, Seattle's Ray Allen and Phoenix's Shawn Marion under their regular-season scoring averages. Now he hooks up with Hamilton, who scored six points in the first seven minutes as the Pistons jumped to a 17-4 lead, but then got just eight more.

and they new d rule is in effect and soem say he is past his prime

Oh, you mean Ghost?

[Clandestino]

i remember elliot and zarko at sunrise mall signing autographs when they were rookies... i had their pics on my wall... somewhere, somehow i lost those pics!